After two years and 14 meetings, Queen Charlotte finally has a zoning bylaw, Jane Wilson writes.The bylaw passed Thursday night (Oct. 24) at a special council meeting. It divides the village into rural residential, multiple family residential, central commercial, commercial blended, general industrial, public facilities and resource management zones. It does not apply to anything that already exists, or buildings that cost less than $50,000.It is a little bit of restriction, but not too much, said QC Chief Administrative Officer Peter Weeber, "that's council's vision, to create something that would give people a voice, but not change the majority of things that we do."Thursday's meeting was not as eventful as some of the previous meetings, said Mr. Weeber, there were only two members of the public there and one letter, which he said reflected the points made at other meetings about agriculture.The two members of the public asked that council create a policy that supports good neighbour relationships, said Mr. Weeber, something he believes the bylaw will do. "The zoning bylaw actually addresses all those things, clearances and minimum requirements for large manure producing operations," he said.Mr. Weeber wouldn't say if he was happy the process was finally over, but said he was happy the bylaw now gives rights to the residents of Queen Charlotte should they have problems with their neighbours' property uses, like blocked views. He said he was also pleased the village now has a building permit process to start the discussion before structures are built.He said the length of the process shows how committed the council is to communication. "We have done everything that we could to make sure every voice was heard," he said, "this community goes way beyond what you would have to do in any other community, most communities just do this in a few meetings and it would be over. In this case everybody has had their voices heard, whether they agreed or not, they were heard."